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Glasgow Times
a day ago
- Business
- Glasgow Times
More than 50 jobs cut at BBC Scotland under spending squeeze
Dozens of editorial and production roles at BBC Scotland have gone as part of a drive to make £700m worth of savings a year across the UK. It is thought almost 4% of BBC Scotland's staff have left in the wake of the seven-month redundancy programme. The cuts have emerged following controversies over the BBC's plans to drop long-running soap opera River City and the cancellation of The Nine, the flagship news programme created for the BBC Scotland channel. Our sister title, The Herald, revealed last week that BBC Scotland was scaling back its coverage of Edinburgh's festivals, including dropping its annual pop-up venue, which played host to many of the biggest stars performing in the city in August. BBC Scotland is based at Pacific Quay in Glasgow. (Image: Getty) Long-time presenter Shereen Nanjiani announced at the weekend that she was stepping down from her Saturday morning show after almost 17 years at the BBC. The BBC promised that 80 new jobs would be created when the new £32 million channel, which launched in February 2019, was first announced more than eight years ago. River City is expected to be screened for the last time in the autumn of 2026. (Image: Image: Archive) However the BBC has been forced to roll-out significant cuts across the UK since then, amid calls for a reform of the licence fee system. The BBC has said that below inflation rises or licence fee freezes have seen it lose out on more than £1 billion over the last decade. BBC Scotland had 1276 staff according to its most recent annual report, which was published before the start of the recent redundancy programme. Director-general Tim Davie announced in March 2024 that the BBC was having to increase its annual savings target by £200m to £700m a year by 2028, as he revealed that the broadcaster planned to explore ways to reform the licence fee, which is set by the UK Government, but had been frozen for the previous two years. At the time, Mr Davie highlighted how below inflationary settlements had 'chipped away' at the BBC's income for years, resulting in a 30 per cent cut between 2010 and 2020. Within months, the BBC had announced plans to cut 500 jobs across its UK services by March 2026 as part of plans to become a 'leaner, more agile organisation". The BBC told staff last September that it planned to cut around 115 editorial and production jobs in its 'nations and regions' teams in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The BBC said they were aiming to make savings 'without closing any major services' while focusing on 'areas that deliver maximum value for audiences". The broadcaster said: 'We have been clear that the significant funding pressures we face means that every division in the BBC needs to make savings.' Between 20 and 30 jobs had expected to go in Scotland under the redundancy programme, which was announced months after the BBC announced plans to drop The Nine, the hour-long news programme created for the launch of the BBC Scotland channel in 2019, and replace it with a new half-hour show running after the main Reporting Scotland programme. A shake-up in BBC Scotland's arts coverage has seen singer and broadcaster Michelle McManus fronting a new celebrity-focus two-hour radio programme, with poet Len Pennie presenting a half-show Scottish culture show, The Arts Mix. BBC Scotland's redundancy programme ran until March, when it sparked anger from actors, union leaders and politicians when they announced plans to bring River City to an end. The final instalments are due to be screened in the autumn of 2026 – around 24 years after its launch. The BBC, which spends around £300m in Scotland, around 90% of what is generated by the licence fee north of the border, has promised that River City's £9m annual budget will be reinvested in three new drama series which will be set in and around Glasgow. The BBC has pledged that it will be spending £95m in drama in Scotland between 2026 and 2028. Although more than 12,000 supporters have backed a petition calling for River City to be saved, BBC Scotland director Hayley Valentine last month told the Scottish Parliament that the show no longer provided 'value for money' after its audience 'declined significantly' over the last five years. The Herald revealed last week that BBC Scotland had decided to scale back its coverage of Edinburgh's festivals. It will not be running a pop-up venue for ticketed broadcasts and recordings for the first time 2010. Just five days of events with audiences will be staged under plans to share space with the Pleasance, one of the biggest Fringe venue operators, at the EICC and its long-running courtyard. According to the latest BBC annual report, around 57 per cent of adults in Scotland consume BBC Scotland content each week via TV and radio broadcasts, its iPlayer platform and the BBC website. A spokesperson for BBC Scotland said: 'The BBC operates within a fiercely competitive marketplace and has experienced, since 2010, a 30% cut in real terms to its budget. 'As a result, tough choices have to be made when it comes to commissioning content with decisions being driven by what provides best value for money. 'With regards to headcount, in the last 12 months alone, more than 50 BBC roles in Scotland have been closed via a redundancy programme. 'The redundancy programme has finished. It ran from September last year until the end of March, as part of a pan-BBC drive to make £700m of savings, which is set against a £1bn real-terms cut to the overall budget in the last 15 years. There isn't a recruitment freeze across BBC Scotland at the moment.'
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Business
- Scottish Sun
BBC Scotland axes more than 50 jobs amid spending cuts
The job losses north of the border include scores of editorial and production positions Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) BBC Scotland has axed more than 50 jobs over the past 12 months amid financial pressures. The broadcaster, headquartered at Pacific Quay in Glasgow, has been operating a redundancy programme in a bid to save £700m a year across the UK. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 More than 50 staff have lost their jobs at BBC Scotland Credit: Alamy 3 The broadcaster is looking to make £700 worth of savings Credit: Getty - Contributor 3 The job losses come amid decisions to axe shows, including the popular soap River City Credit: BBC The job losses include scores of editorial and production positions. It is believed that around four per cent of BBC Scotland's workers have departed over a seven-month period, as reported by The Herald. The redundancies follow the Beeb boss' decision to slash the soap River City, which has been televised for 23 years. The final episodes are expected to be screened in Autumn next year. The broadcaster has also ditched The Nine, the main news programme which first aired in 2019 for the launch of the BBC Scotland channel. The show initially created 80 jobs and pulled in 750,000 viewers for its first screening. But more recent figures showed that views had plummeted to 1,700. In September last year, we reported how bosses sent a memo to staff informing them that management aimed to reduce staff numbers. Chiefs had found that viewership figures were significantly down in 2023 and they were seeking to ease financial pressures by cutting the workforce. The broadcaster revealed that it planned to slash around 30 roles as part of the overall Nations Division savings. Ally McCoist is in cycling crash as he rides 555 miles across Ireland to raise money for the My Name's Doddie Foundation In December, it emerged that the Saturday Sportscene results show on BBC One would also be scrapped. Instead, the scores and final results would be delivered by Radio Scotland's Open All Mics service from January 11. BBC Scotland has been contacted for comment.
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
How has BBC Scotland made its latest cuts in Scotland?
A year after the channel's launch, BBC Scotland's then director, Donalda MacKinnon, who has led staff through the shake-up, announced her departure after 33 years with the broadcaster. Read more: Months later, the impact of the Covid pandemic on licence fee collection and commercial income was cited as a voluntary redundance 'trawl' across the whole of the BBC was launched in a bid to make £125m worth of savings. The current BBC director-general, Tony Davie, who took over the role in 2020, announced a £500m spending squeeze in 2022, with a further £200m worth of cuts revealed last year, when he announced that the broadcaster was exploring how the licence fee could be reformed, after the end of a two-year freeze imposed by the UK Government. Hayley Valentine is the current director of BBC Scotland. (Image: free) The BBC has admitted cutting more than 50 jobs in Scotland over the last year as part of a spending squeeze being rolled out by the broadcaster. Dozens of editorial and production roles at BBC Scotland have gone as part of a drive to make £700m worth of savings a year across the UK. The cuts have emerged following controversies over the BBC's plans to drop long-running soap opera River City and the cancellation of The Nine, the flagship news programme created for the BBC Scotland channel. The Herald revealed last week that BBC Scotland was scaling back its coverage of Edinburgh's festivals, including dropping its pop-up venue at the event. Long-time presenter Shereen Nanjiani announced at the weekend that she was stepping down from her Saturday morning show after almost 17 years at the BBC. The BBC promised that 80 new jobs would be created when the new channel, which launched in February 2019, was announced eight years ago. However the BBC has been forced to roll-out significant cuts across the UK since then, amid calls for a reform of the licence fee system. The BBC has said that below inflation rises or licence fee freezes have seen it lose out on more than £1 billion over the last decade. BBC Scotland had 1276 staff according to its most recent annual report, which was published before the start of the recent redundancy programme. Director-general Tim Davie announced in March 2024 that the BBC was having to increase its annual savings target by £200m to £700m a year by 2028, as he revealed that the broadcaster planned to explore ways to reform the licence fee, which is set by the UK Government, but had been frozen for the previous two years. At the time, Mr Davie highlighted how below inflationary settlements had 'chipped away' at the BBC's income for years, resulting in a 30 per cent cut between 2010 and 2020. Last summer the BBC announced plans to cut 500 jobs across its UK services as part of plans to become a 'leaner, more agile organisation.' But by then it had already announced the end of The Nine, the hour-long news programme created for the launch of the BBC Scotland channel in 2019, and replace it with a new half-hour show running after the main Reporting Scotland programme. The BBC told staff last September that it planned to cut around 115 editorial and production jobs in its 'nations and regions' teams in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. By the end of the month, a shake-up of BBC Scotland's daily arts coverage had been revealed, with singer and broadcaster Michelle McManus brought in to present a new celebrity-focus programme replacing The Afternoon Show, and poet Lennie Pennie presenting a half-hour showcase for Scottish culture. BBC Scotland sparked widespread anger in March when it announced the end of its long-running soap opera River City. Despite more than 12,000 supporters backing a petition calling for River City to be saved, the current BBC Scotland director, Hayley Valentine, who was only appointed last November, has insisted that a final decision has been taken on the show's future. However the BBC has promised that River City's annual £9m budget will be reinvested in three new drama series which will be set in and around Glasgow. Further cutbacks were confirmed last week by BBC Scotland, when it admitted that it would not be running its own pop-up venue during Edinburgh's festivals for the first time in 15 years. Two of BBC Scotland's best-known presenters have announced that they were leaving the broadcaster in recent months. Janice Forsyth, who presented The Afternoon Show until the start of 2024 and had worked for the BBC for more than 30 years, revealed in February that had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Shereen Nanjiani announced she was leaving her Saturday morning show live in air last weekend after 17 years with the BBC. Although it was reported that between 20 and 30 BBC jobs were expected to be lost as a result of the most recent redundancy programme, the broadcaster has now admitted that more than 50 jobs have gone over the last 12 months.
Edinburgh Live
2 days ago
- Edinburgh Live
Peter Tobin documentary on how cops caught notorious killer soars up download charts
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Get the latest Edinburgh Live breaking news on WhatsApp A documentary on Peter Tobin is now one of BBC Scotland's most requested downloads after being viewed more than a million times. The Hunt For Peter Tobin examines how three missing persons cases led to the capture of one of Scotland's most notorious killers. The Sunday Mail exclusively revealed the last photo of Tobin in which he lay handcuffed to a bed seriously ill. Tobin is serving a whole life term for killing Vicky Hamilton, Dinah McNicol and Angelika Kluk. He then died the next month, aged 76, in October 2022. Released in March and available on BBC iPlayer, the documentary is now ranked as one of the top 20 most-watched this year. A BBC Scotland spokeswoman said: 'The Hunt for Peter Tobin is currently in the Top 20 'most requested' of 2025 with over 1.1m streaming requests.' The show reveals how it was only after his 2006 arrest for the rape and murder of Polish student Angelika Kluk, 23, that cops became convinced Tobin had killed before. Join Edinburgh Live's Whatsapp Community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages Overseen by Det Supt David Swindle, taskforce Operation Anagram was set up. Following the programme's release, retired Swindle said he was convinced the psychopath had claimed more victims. Swindle said: 'I am still in no doubt Tobin killed other women.'
New Statesman
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- New Statesman
Mrs Brown's Boys and the BBC's Farage problem
Photo by BBC On the banks of the River Clyde in Glasgow, filming has ended on a new miniseries of Mrs Brown's Boys. In front of a whooping audience at BBC Scotland, Brendan O'Carroll reprised his role as the false-bosomed, foul-mouthed matriarch Mrs Brown. For much of the past decade, the show has been dragged out of the cupboard like tattered tinsel just once a year for a Christmas special. The mere thought of the show, with its 1970s slapstick and double entendre, is enough to bring some QI-watching liberals out in hives. Grace Dent called it 'the worst comedy ever made'. Hugo Rifkind wrote he could never be friends with anyone who watched it. And there is a legitimate question as to why the BBC recommissioned it. Filming was temporarily paused last year when O'Carroll apologised for 'a clumsy attempt at a joke… where a racial term was implied'. Perhaps the answer to the BBC's renewed fascination with the show lies in a meeting of the BBC's editorial guidelines and standards committee in March, at which BBC News CEO Deborah Turness gave a presentation on 'plans to address low trust issues with Reform voters'. The BBC has a big problem with Reform voters, and Reform voters have a big problem with it. In a YouGov poll, 85 per cent of those who voted Reform last July said they didn't trust the BBC much or at all. The meeting was told about plans to look at the low-trust issue in relation to news and drama, and the importance of local teams. The corporation is right to look beyond news in speaking to Reform voters, for whom cultural and moral issues are as important as political ones. Which brings us back to Mrs Brown's Boys. My favourite data point from the Brexit referendum had nothing to do with immigration or sovereignty, and everything to do with the sitcom (once watched by 9.4 million people on Christmas Day 2013). A YouGov poll in 2018 found fans of Mrs Brown's Boys backed leaving the EU by 62 per cent to 38 per cent. Its viewers believed immigration, criminal justice and prisons were the top political issues. These are the people now turning to Reform from the Conservatives, and to a lesser degree from Labour. Around half of Leave voters are now Reform voters. What else has the BBC offered such fans in recent years, beyond Mrs Brown's curlers and cardis? Not much. Yes, I hear the howls of frustration at what often feels like wall-to-wall coverage of Reform on news bulletins and interview shows. Nigel Farage is one of the most booked guests on BBC's Question Time. After Rachel Reeves' winter fuel U-turn, news bulletins gave first response to Farage (with his five MPs), rather than the Conservatives (120), Lib Dems (72), or even the SNP (nine). Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Like Keir Starmer, the BBC is now treating Reform as the de facto opposition. And on current voting intentions – if not parliamentary seats – it is right to do so. Because of this, Farage will have to face media scrutiny in a way he has previously avoided. Reform will also find it harder to continue its anti-establishment shtick when it is brought into the media fold. The argument that giving it so much airtime is adding to its momentum is, I fear, a ship long sailed. Reform is easily capable of reaching every demographic it needs through Facebook, TikTok or GB News. The more important issue is whether our national public-service broadcaster is able to reach these people. It must do so while upholding its own standards of reporting, when there is greater competition for viewers' attention than ever – not least from Farage himself. The Reform leader, who could well be our next prime minister, has built much of his brand on attacking and undermining the BBC, calling it 'biased' and a 'political actor'. By ignoring Reform the BBC would be ignoring almost a third of voters, while giving more credence to Farage's bleating that the BBC and the establishment are rigged against him. There are, however, concerns from inside the BBC that there is a 'mass overcorrection' going on. One insider says: 'It feels like the bosses are determined no one can say we didn't fully understand the coming of Reform in the way we were criticised for not foreseeing Brexit and the issues which led to it. But that means issues like migration and net zero are now being viewed through a 'Nigel Farage lens' – which isn't good either.' It is doubtful whether this approach will rebuild trust among diehard Reform fans, who lost faith with the BBC a decade ago and have been frothing at the mouth at 'woke warrior' Doctor Who ever since. More important are the 'Reform curious', who are not fully convinced by the policies or character of Farage, but who want to be heard and seen in the nation's political and cultural life. Reform has moved far beyond its base of Mrs Brown's Boys voters, probably to viewers of everything from Baby Reindeer to Springwatch. There is work to be done by the BBC to rebuild trust among many – regardless of how they might vote – in its drama output. Our public-service broadcaster has done great work in representing diverse audiences in recent years. It should not allow a populist upsurge to derail that. And yet to be truly diverse, it needs bosses and commissioners who are from diverse socio-economic backgrounds, with and without university educations, and living in the communities in which they grew up. And some who find Mrs Brown's Boys hilariously funny. [See also: Will Iran surrender?] Related
